Combined ledger and index.



No. 669,554. Patented Mar. I2, I90l.

G. C. SHEPHERD.

COMBINED LEDG ER AND INDEX.

. (Application filed Sept. 17, 1898.)

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COMBINED LEDGEB AND INDEX.

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GILBERT O. SHEPHERD, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

COMBINED LEDGER AND INDEX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 669,554, dated March 12, 1901.

Application filed September 17,1898. Serial No. 691,185. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, GILBERT O. SHEPHERD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Combined Ledger and Index, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object to provide improvements in the construction and arrangement in my United States Letters Patent No. 540,695, dated June 11, 1895, which includes, among other things, an arrange ment of sheets whereby the ledger and journal account and an index therefor having ready-reference features are described.

My present invention relates to the arrangement of an accountbook (wherein a journal may be embodied, if desired) which consists in providing a book divided into a number of sections, the book containing a general index by which the position of the account in the ledger can be readily ascertained, and a series of sections each comprising a ledger-index and a number of ledgersheets, by means of which ledger-index the position-in the ledger to be given the new account can be readily found, and these sections embracing these separate features can be multiplied indefinitely, the sheets being adapted to be employed in a binder, such as disclosed in my patent above referred to or any other suitable one.

My invention therefore consists in the Various features of arrangement hereinafter described, and further pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective elevation of a portion of a book of account formed in the manner hereinafter described, showing diagrammatically a general index and a further section comprising a ledger-index and a ledger; Fig. 2, an enlarged front elevation of the superposed leaves forming the general index and the interposed leader-sheet; and

Fig. 3 represents on the left-hand side the ledger-index sheet 19 and on the right-hand side the superposed ledger-sheets and the following leader-sheet 4, with tab 22.

In Fig. 1 the numeral 1 indicates the sheets forming the general index, and 2 the sheets forming the first ledger-section, to which may be added further ledger-sections, each of the succeedingledger-sections being like the first. Between each two ledger-sections and be tween the general index and the first ledgersection are leader-sheets 3 and 4, which are wider than and project out from the edge of the other sheets. The leader-sheet 3 for the general index is provided with a vertical series of spaces 5 6, and on each of the spaces 5 appears the general initial letter of the alphabet, and to the right of each of the spaces 5 the space 6 is divided into four sections, numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4:, upon which appear combinations of the initial letter with other letters, and this arrangement is continued on the descending spaces 5 6 of the indexsheet at pleasure. The sheets 1 of the general index are provided with stepped tabs 7, which tabs are longitudinally in alinemeut with the spaces 5 6, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The object of the leader-sheet 3, which projects beyond the edges of the index-sheet- 1, is to provide quick access to the indexsheets, doing away with the necessity of lettering (or numbering) the tabs 7 and the opening of the book to find the proper index-sheet. The spaces 5 6 on the leader-sheet being opposite the tab on the particular index-sheet to which reference is desired, it is only necessary to pass the fingers from the desired space 5 6 t0 the adjacent tab and the particular leaf of the general index corresponding in alphabetical arrangement with the said space is at once found. Thus each of the spaces-for instance, the first, 5-locates the primary letter under which it is desired to find the place of the name in the index, and each of the divisions of the space 6 indicates the position of the particular namecomprised within its alphabetical modification on the particular index-sheet, each index-sheet having two or more positions on each page, one being indicated at 8 and the other at 9, the sheet being divided off by the center line 10 to form these positions, the first two positions being on the left page of the folio and the last two positions on the right page of the folio. By finding the particular division on the leader-sheet (or tab) 7, which embraces the particular alphabetical modification of the name desired to be located, the exact position of the name in the index will at once be indicated.

As shown in Fig. 2, each of the sheets 1 is divided longitudinally into two columns 11 and 12 and the sheet is spaced off transversely by the lines 13. Each sheet 1 is divided into two series 14 and 15 of longitudinal or vertical columns 16, 17, and 18, which are designated under the headings Sec, No, and Pos, being the abbreviations of section, number, and position. The word section indicates the particular ledger-section in which the ledger-account will appear. The word number indicates the page of the ledger in that particular section, and the word position indicates the particular position on the ledger-sheet where the account will be found. The column 11 on each page of the general-index sheets provides a space for the entry of the particular name of the account, and the column 12 provides space for the overflow in case there is not enough space left in the first column, both columns having the auxiliary columns indicating the section, number, and position of the account in the ledger.

The sheets embraced within the part marked 2 in Fig. 1 constitute a single ledgersection, to which further ledger-sections may be added. These sheets are illustrated in Fig. 3, the first of which, 19, is the ledger-index, and the following sheets 20 are the ledgersheets. The first sheet of the section-to wit, the ledger-index sheet 19is provided with a tab 21, hearing the numeral indicating the section corresponding with the tab 22 at the edge of the leader-sheet 4, so that the book can be opened from the rear to the front in finding the particular section, as Well as from front to the rear. Each of the ledgersections is provided with leadersheets 4, having tabs 22, bearing the particular section number. Each of the ledgerindex sheets 19 is divided into three columns, one column, 23, for the name of the account,

.24 for the number of the page of the ledger in the particular section, (in this case section 1,) and 25 a column for the address. The spaces formed by the transverse lines in the column 24 under the word No. are numbered consecutively 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on, these numbers corresponding with the number of the sheets of the ledger, the numeral l in column 24 of the ledger-index sheet 19, corresponding and alining with the numeral 1 on the leader-sheet 4, and so on. The ledger-sheets 20 are provided with the stepped tabs 31, which have spaces alining with the spaces 30 on sheet 4 and which may be, provided with like numbering, if desired. The first of the ledger-sheets 20 are divided transversely into spaces by lines and longitudinally by lines, as desired, and each sheet is divided into two halves or vertical spaces 32 33, indicating positions 1 and 2 on both sides of the sheet.

The foregoing arrangement of the sheets enables the following things to be done: The ledger-index provides means for securing a place for the particular account in the ledger without involving the necessity of the bookkeeper going over all the ledger-pages of either or any of the ledger-sections, and the division on the leader-sheet 3 or on the tabs 7 of the general index into spaces corresponding the accountant of the gradual growth of the accounts in the ledger. This is accomplished by observing the uniform rule of entering the names of the accounts in the spaces 26 of the ledger-sheets one after the other, so that each space will be filled up consecutively and the numbers in the column 24 on each of the ledger-index sheets utilized consecutively, which will, in the manner hereinafter shown, indicate to the bookkeeper that that particular ledger-section is filled when all of the spaces on the sheet are occupied and that he has to turn to the next ledgersection, which he can readily do by using the leader-sheet 4 in order to find a place for the account. Having found the place for the em try of the name in the ledger, the numeral in the column 24 of the ledger-index sheet indicating the particular page of the ledger-sheet on which the account is to be entered, the entry is made in any position desired on the ledger-page, these positions being selected ar bitrarily'. Each of the ledger-sheets has one or more positions on each side. The account being entered in the ledger and the position given to the account on the ledger-sheets, the name of the account is entered in the general index under the particular letter designation in accordance with either one of the four subdivisions of the alphabetical initial, and opposite the name in the columns 16 17 18 is entered the section, number, and position. The section of the ledger in which the accountis found is thus indicated bya numeral. The number of the ledger-page in that particular section is also indicated by a numeral, and the position of. the account on that particular page in the specified ledger-section is further thusindicated bya numeral. By thus entering the account in the general index, which gives the section, number, and position of the account in the ledger, the position of the account is readily ascertained by using the subdivisions of the initial with which the sheet 3 or tabs 7 are provided for a guide, which latter forms a ready means forisolating the various names coming under a single alphabetical initial.

As before stated, the particular purpose of so constructing and arranging these sheets is to enable them to be employed in a' detachable binder, as set out in the patent before referred to, and for this purpose the sheets are cut, as indicated at 34 in the figures, thus forming tabs 35, in which holes 36 are formed for the passage of securing-pins.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. In an index, the combination with a leader-sheet 3 having vertical series of spaces 5 and 6, the spaces 6 being divided transversely and vertically; alphabetical initials in spaces 5 and combinations of such initials with other letters arranged in the divisions on spaces 6; of the stepped index-sheets 1 having divisions formed thereon in which alphabetical combinations corresponding with those on the divisions of spaces 6 are formed, substantially as described.

2. In an index, the combination with a sheet having a marginal projection provided with GILBERT O. SHEPHERD.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH L. LEVY, WM. J ACOBSEN. 

